Radical self-care.
I’ve found myself gently easing into this. No big new year’s resolution. No waking up on the 1st with a whole new agenda. My 1st of January actually looked very similar to my 31st of December.
Then the 1st turned into the 2nd, turned into the 3rd….
I’ve been homeschooling my children on the island. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’d homeschooled my youngest for kindergarten so wasn’t so worried about tackling first grade. But 7th grade for my daughter was a whole new world.
It’s amazing to me how we can rise to an occasion. I’ve surprised myself. Loving creating their educational world, I am finding teaching so much fun. I am watching them thrive and showing them this and showing them that and every moment wanting to give them more, read to them more, create something more.
I got tired. I found myself not so much sleeping at night but collapsing into my pillow. A collision of body against bed and a restless sleep from too much stimulation.
Mornings were quicksand fueled with espresso.
I’ve been so focused on giving them the world, showing them the magic of learning. But there’s also the cooking and cleaning and snowstorms.
The dog to walk.
The shopping to get done.
My head was down and I was getting through the days.
So January 1st was just another, and then it was the 2nd, turned into the 3rd…
…and somewhere in these last few weeks self-care became my mantra.
It started with a cup of tea.
I decided I needed to break up my day with some moments of stillness. Nothing more than making a cup of tea, and sitting. No phone, no computer, no book, nothing but looking out the window and having a cup of tea.
I did it. Day after day after day I would make my tea and quietly sit, and now it’s become a ritual, and a habit.
About a week into my new rhythm, I found myself journaling in the morning. Just a few pages, 10 minutes while the kids are still stirring and I am having my cup of coffee. It’s now been three weeks and I’ve filled a whole book with words.
I’ve started to meditate in the evening, just before I close my eyes. To lie, and listen, and breathe.
Just this week, I’ve found I can do 15 minutes of yoga while the kids eat their breakfast.
That’s it. A few stolen moments just for me. Five minutes here, ten there, fifteen tops and it’s brought a radical change into my life.
I feel ten years younger.
I get so much more done.
I am laughing more.
Sleeping better.
Hopeful about each day.
Looking up.
We don’t need some big new year resolution. Life doesn’t have to change at the stroke of midnight.
We can all start with a cup of tea.
Comments